One of the more bizarre Twitter beefs has erupted overnight as Niall Horan, one of the former stars of One Direction, has gotten involved in a social media spat with Leeds United Football Club.

It all began with Wednesday night’s set of Championship football fixtures, in which Derby County – whom Horan supports – won 4-1 away at much-fancied West Bromwich Albion. Clearly overjoyed with seeing his team cement their position as title challengers, the singer told his 39 million followers “@dcfcofficial are a dream to watch play”.

Irish radio presenter Thomas Crosse replied to his tweet, asking him to “send Leeds United a bit of luck” – the team who went top of the league the same night with their 2-0 victory over Ipswich Town.

Horan, however, merely said back: “No-one likes Leeds”.

Cue feathers flying.

Niall HoranNiall Horan sparked off a Twitter feud with Leeds United

Whoever was in charge of the Leeds United official Twitter account wasted no time in coming up with a retort, posting to the club’s 370,000 followers: “No-one likes your solo career #BringBack1D.”

More: Niall Horan recalls One Direction’s first ever gig as “the worst night of my life”

As football fans do, Leeds supporters immediately piled in behind their club, even though Horan’s following is nearly 100 times bigger than the Championship club’s. One fan welcomed the challenge, writing: “It's us against the EFL, FA and One Direction fans, bring on the rest of em…”

A Horan fan hit back: “No one likes y'all, try again next time hun. Niall's solo career is better than anything y'all could ever accomplish.”

Niall’s solo album, Flicker, debuted at number 1 in the United States when it was released almost exactly a year ago, but could only make number 3 in the UK. Only Louis Tomlinson has not yet announced an intention to release a solo album since One Direction went on hiatus at the end of 2015.

More: Niall Horan is adamant he’s a great rapper